Just Friends?
by Mellons
Summary: A story about Mello, Matt and Near, involved in an unexpected and unintentional love triangle, leaving Matt paranoid and demanding answers. This story takes place in Wammy's, at a younger stage of their lives. *Strong MelloxMatt with NearxMello to come*
1. Punishment

Mello sat on the wooden chair, nibbling on a bar of chocolate, staring hatefully at the white haired boy on the floor, carefully putting jigsaw pieces into their places.

"You know why your in here.." the boy muttered,

"Yeah, and it's your fault." Mello replied.

"It's not my fault you thought Cain stole your chocolate, so you beat him up.." the boy said, not looking at the older boy once.

"Near, shut up." Mello grunted, turning to the left in his seat.

Finally, Roger walked in, after taking care of the boy called Cain's bleeding nose.

"Mello, your in here for two reasons: You know the first, and secondly.." Roger began,

"I didn't steal your wallet, Roger!" Mello hissed, standing up and facing the old man.

"I know, I know," Roger nodded, "But, I want you to get on with Near more."

Mello's mouth hung open. As his head slowly turned around to look at the white haired boy, his eye twitched.

"The two top students in Wammy's House should get along. You'll be in here at lunch every day for a week with Near. That is all." Roger smiled, turning to walk out of the room.

"Oh and Mello," Roger said, "Try to behave."

"Hmph." the blonde haired male sat down on the same wooden seat, staring thoughtfully at Near.

A few minutes passed before Near lifted his head to face Mello, "Where's the last piece?" the boy asked, putting out his pale hand.

Mello shrugged, smiling contently.

"Fine," Near muttered, standing up and going over to the large wooden cabinet in the corner. He rustled around for a while, but finally walked back to where he was sitting.

"Thanks." Near said, showing Mello the spare jigsaw piece.

Mello's eye twitched again as he stood up, swiped the piece from the younger boy's hand and forcefully threw it at the window.

"The window's not open, Mello." Near said in the same monotone voice, walking over and picking up the piece.

"Damn it." Mello muttered, sitting down again.

Near gracefully put the piece in it's place, and then put the puzzle back in it's box, and finally, back in it's little space in the cabinet.

"So," Near began, sitting down on the exact space on the floor again, "What do you want to talk about?"

"Nothing." Mello grunted, biting a chunk out of his chocolate bar.

"Why don't you like anyone here at Wammy's, Mello?" Near asked.

"Because," the blonde said, "Your all stuck up and think your perfect."

"Maybe you're the stuck up one, Mello. Maybe you think your perfect and everyone else isn't.."

"I don't want to talk about this!" Mello shouted.

"No need to shout.." Near replied.

"So, why don't you have any friends, Nate?" Mello asked, grinning.

"Don't call me Nate, Mihael." Near warned him.

Mello breathed deeply through his nose, his eye twitching more than it ever has before, "Answer the question," he managed to say through his teeth,

"My purpose in this world is to take over L's position once he…passes. L never needed friends in his life, so why should I?"

"Whatever." Mello sighed, "What do you do for fun in here?"

"Puzzles?" Near suggested, twisting a lock of his white hair on his finger.

"Let's see what you got, then.." Mello rolled his eyes, walking over to the huge cabinet.

Mello stood behind Near, looking at the mountains of puzzles, games and toys.

"So what ty--" Near began, turning around. Shockingly, the boy never noticed Mello was behind him and accidentally bumped into him.

Mello suddenly reached out and grabbed Near behind the back, and his right hand, preventing him from hitting his head of the cabinet.

"S-Sorry.." Near smiled, blushing.

Mello's eyes widened. Never has he seen this boy express any emotion, never mind blush in front of him!

"S'okay.." Mello muttered, letting go of him whenever Near was able to stand up straight.

"B-Be right back.." Near said, grabbing a hold of a lock of his hair, heading for the door.

Mello sat back down on his chair, pulling out another bar of chocolate, "What a weird kid.." he muttered, opening the wrapper and biting into the chocolate.


	2. Experiments

"Where the hell did you go?" Mello asked the seemly calm boy who re-entered the room.

"I needed the bathroom." Near replied, picking up a jigsaw at random and sitting on the floor.

"Hey…can…can I help?" Mello asked after a few minutes of watching the younger male pour out the pieces onto the carpeted floor.

"Sure." he replied, smiling gently to himself.

"So..why did you leave after I caught you from breaking your skull open?" the blonde asked.

"I needed to use the bathroom, I already told you that, Mello." the boy replied.

"Uh, I set up a game, by the way.." Mello muttered, sitting down on the ground beside the board game.

"That was nice of you.." Near smiled gently, sitting down opposite the older male and starting putting the pieces into their places.

An hour passed of the two boys concentrating on the puzzle, not one of them interacting with the other.

That was, until the last piece of the puzzle was no where to be found.

"You through it out the window, didn't you." Near said, not really directed as a question, but a statement.

"Why the hell would I do that!? Seriously, I just want to get out of this hell hole earlier by getting along with you! It doesn't mean I enjoy this!" Mello shouted, standing up.

Near didn't reply. The boy sat there on the floor, curling the same lock of white hair.

"Why are you being so ignorant!? Listen to me! Look at me when I'm talking, you idiot!" Mello screamed, kicking the game away and kneeling down beside Near.

"Idiot…haha." Near giggled, looking away from the elder's wicked face.

"What's so funny?" Mello growled.

"Oh, nothing…nothing that should concern you, Number Two." Near replied.

Mello's eye twitched as he repeated those to words in his head over and over in his head. Number two….Number two…

"Number Two!? You asshole!" Mello hissed harshly, grabbing a hold of either side of Near's baggy-sleeved arms.

Suddenly, Near blushed, dropping his head to face the ground.

"Your totally messed up, you know that?" Mello muttered, seeing the red in Near's pale cheeks, "I'm outta here. I'm not spending one more minute with you, you sick bastard."

The blonde stormed towards the door, taking one more look at the blushing boy on the floor, curling a strand of hair, and slammed the door behind him.

After a few minutes of repeating those simple actions, the white haired boy took a deep breath and re-focused his facial expression to the bored, emotionless face it was before. Near stood up, walking over to pick up the board, and started retrieving the lost pieces.

--

Mello stomped through the hallway, every child around him ducking or dodging out of the way. Everybody knows not to interact with Mello when he's pissed.

The boy slammed his bedroom door behind him, throwing his thin body on the bed. Mello thought about how much he hated that boy…his white…well, everything, basically. Except for his eyes. He has L's eyes.

The blonde rolled onto his side, sticking his arm under the bed to search for a bar of chocolate. No success.

"Damn it!" he muttered, standing up, walking over to his desk and searching his drawers for his emergency chocolate.

"Where's all my chocolate??" Mello asked himself, turning around in a circle numerous times, before it hit him.

"Near," he muttered.

Once again, Mello stomped back down the hallway, making everyone in his path again duck and dodge out of his way.

He pushed open the big double doors with force, making them hit off the walls, which left big dents where the door handles collided with the wall.

"What the hell did you do with my chocolate, Near?!" Mello asked through his teeth.

"Mello, answer me something," Near said in his monotone voice, "Aren't you wondering how I knew your real name?" he asked.

Mello opened his mouth to protest, but turned his head slightly, Near's question actually puzzling Mello. The blonde turned around and closed the door.

"Okay, how did you know my name?" Mello asked, calmer than before.

"You tell me how you knew mine, first." Near replied.

Mello sighed, "I went through Roger's files, okay? I've done it loads of times before, so yeah."

The younger male let out a half-hearted laugh, resting his chin on his knee, "Interesting…" he muttered.

"Now, your turn, Near."

"I knew what you are capable of, so I went through Roger's files to find your name so I'd have something to comeback on if you got annoyed, which you obviously did. My plan didn't work as I planned it to." the white haired boy explained.

"Fine. There. We both know what happened, now where's my goddamn chocolate?!" Mello said, remembering why he was in the same room as Near.

"I was experimenting." Near began, "You're so moody…and I was experimenting to see if it was the chocolate made you more moody, so I threw it out. Plus, chocolate will make you fat."

Mello's eye twitched, "You…You threw out my chocolate!?" Mello screamed, "You threw out my chocolate?!?! Damn you, Near!"

Mello, for the third time, stomped threw that same hallway and up to his room to grab a 10 pound note from his piggybank. He walked down the hallway and straight for the door.

"I'm sick of that guy and his mood swings…" one kid muttered to another. Mello heard what he said clearly. Slowly, the blonde turned his head and stared menacingly and the boy, before he and his friend ran away, scared witless.

"Mello," someone called when he reached for the door handle, "Where might you be going?"

Mello turned around to see Roger walking towards him.

"Roger, I'm going to the shop around the corner. Near threw out all my chocolate.." Mello said innocently.

"Hmm.." Roger muttered, taking off his glasses and polishing them with his handkerchief, "Be back in twenty minutes, alright?"

"I'll be back in ten, Roger." Mello said, turning and opening the door.

The boy rushed down the street, trying to avoid everyone walking against him. Suddenly, while Mello was staring at the ground, he knocked into someone's shoulder, sending them crashing to the ground. Mello put a hand on the pole beside him, steadying himself, before looking at the person he knocked into. Just a random red haired guy who came out of nowhere.

"Sorry," Mello muttered, "I'm in a rush...I didn't see you."

"Oh, no problem.." the boy replied, picking up his portable games console, "Hmm, it's okay. I can fix it when I get back." the boy smiled at Mello, sticking up a hand to assure no harm was done, and walked off in the opposite direction Mello was going.

"What a weird kid," Mello muttered, "Did you see how he was dressed?" the boy laughed, noticing no one was listening to him, "Oh."

Mello arrived at the shop, asking for 4 chocolate bars. When he had finished paying and was standing outside of the shop, he rummaged in the plastic bag for a bar, opening it ravenously, finally biting a chunk out of the chocolate and letting it melt on his tongue.

"Oh, yeah. That's the stuff." the boy smiled, walking back to Wammy's.

When Mello got back to Wammy's, everything seemed strangely different. People seemed…happier….more active, maybe?

The blonde ignored everyone, as he usually did, and headed to his bedroom.

The boy closed the door, kicking off his boots and stretching his black jumper to loosen it against his chest. He lay down on the bed, leaving the bag on the floor nearby, enjoying every bite of chocolate he took out of the bar.

Then, he heard a _clank _sound.

"What the hell?!" Mello shouted, jumping up on his bed, "Near?! Get the hell out of my room, you perverted freak!"

"Mello, I have another question for you." Near said, starting to rebuild the dice-tower he was in the process of stacking.

"First you steal my chocolate, and now you expect me to play your games?! Just tell me what you want so I can get back to my relaxing.." Mello groaned, sitting down on the bed.

"Alright. Answer honestly: Have you ever had a real friend before, Mello?" Near asked.

The blonde didn't answer.

"Well?" the younger boy asked, lifting his head and flicking his white hair out of his dark eyes to look straight at Mello, "Please answer me, Mello."

Mello really did not understand this boy at all. Why would he care if he has had a friend or not?

"Well, okay…I'll tell you then, but I don't see why…" Mello muttered, playing along with the boy's game.

*** * ***

**AC: Just to tell you, this fanfic is before the Kira case, so Mello and Near are both younger than they are in the manga. Near's a bit more…less mature, but still mature? I don't know how to explain it. Mello is about 13, nearly 14 and Near is 11, nearly 12.**

**Oh, and if you can't understand the part where Near seemed to have a crush on Mello, he was all sneaky-like and blushed, pretending to have a crush on Mello, to get the blonde out of his face.**

**And don't worry. I think Matt's entering in the next chapter. It is a NearxMelloxMatt, after all. But it won't stay that way for long..**

**I hope you enjoyed it! Sorry it took so long. My friends on DeviantArt know I have a bit of a Frerard-block because Gerard's having a kid, which is putting me off Frerard a bit, haha.**

**Mello~**


	3. Questions

"No." Mello sighed, rubbing his eye.

"Oh." Near answered.

"Why did you want to know, Near?" Mello asked, feeling edgy.

"Would you like a friend, Mello?"

"Near, seriously. I don't need your help. Just, go away and leave me--"

"Uhmm, excuse me…is this…uh…Near's room?" someone asked, knocking lightly on the door.

Mello turned his head, staring at the boy, "No, it's not. Now, get lost." he answered blankly.

"Ah, Matt? Is that you? I'm over here, come on in.." Near said, raising a pale hand.

The red haired boy timidly walked over and stood in front of Near, smiling sheepishly. Mello stared at the boy, trying not to make his eye twitch. He looked familiar…but the blonde just couldn't remember where he saw him before. Near calmly and slowly stacked his dice into the small box he had them in, and looked up and Matt.

"Who the hell is this?" Mello asked, not taking his eyes off the red head.

"This, this is Matt. He's new here." Near said, gesturing to Matt to have a seat on the floor.

"And why is he in my room?"

"Mello, I think you should have at least one friend. Just talk to him, okay?" Near asked, standing up and walking out of the blonde's room, closing the door quietly behind him.

The two boys sat in the same position for near 15 minutes. Mello eyed the boy closely, not once looking away from him. Matt fidgeted and blinked…becoming aware and slightly annoyed by Mello's piercing gaze.

"So, my name's Matt…" the red head finally said.

"Mello." the other said quickly.

"Um…I like playing games…I have a portable games console, if you wanna see it…" Matt said, taking his black, battered console out of his back pocket and showing it to Mello.

"I know you!" Mello suddenly gasped, "I knocked you over earlier, didn't I?"

"Oh…uh…yeah…haha." Matt said, smiling timidly, "So, what do you like?"

"Chocolate?" Mello said, taking a bite of his bar and lying back on the bed.

"There's a lot of people in this place…isn't there?"

"Yeah, but you get used to it. They're all idiots, anyway.." Mello sighed.

"So…I heard you've met L before." Matt said, looking up at the boy.

A huge grin suddenly grew on Mello's face as he sat up and started blabbering about the amazing time he walked into Roger's empty office and noticed a huge tray full of sweets and chocolate on Roger's desk.

"…And, I snuck up and ate anything covered in chocolate! It was the best chocolate I had ever tasted. Then, someone asked me what I was doing. I turned around and L was standing right there! He smiled and greeted me by my name. I apologized, but he told me to sit down, and we started talking. It was amazing!" Mello explained.

"Wow…" Matt whispered, leaning forward eagerly, "So, your number two, aren't you?"

"What of it?" Mello asked through his teeth, becoming irritated immediately.

"It's so cool! Like, I know Near's nice and all…but doesn't knowing that you're the smartest kid in like, the whole world kinda make his a bit cocky?" Matt asked.

Mello smiled, reached down and pulled Matt's striped sleeve- and indication for him to sit on the bed beside him.

He let his arm hang loosely over the red head's shoulder and smiled, "Matt," he said, "I think we're gonna be great friends, you know that?"

"Cool!" Matt smiled, "I've never really had a friend before."

Mello and Matt walked down the hall, happy to show their new friendship. Everyone stared. _Mello had a friend?? Impossible._

_The two boys got to the end of the hall, and Mello turned to Matt, "So, what do you wanna go see first? I bet you haven't seen much of Wammy's yet, have you?"_

"_Nope." Matt said, shrugging, "You guys got a games room?"_

"_The hell we have!" Mello smiled, leading the way to the small dark room._

"_Woah." Matt smiled, turning around in circles._

"_Hey, blondie!" someone called through the window._

_Mello growled and walked towards the window, "What do you want, Ross??" Mello shouted._

"_I heard you got a new boyfriend! How sweet!" Ross giggled with his friends._

"_Come on, Matt." Mello grunted, jumping through the window, out into the garden._

"_Why don't you say it again?" Mello said, looking up at his opponent._

"_I said, I heard you got a new boyfriend. How fucking sweet!" Ross smirked._

"_Bastard." Mello spat, punching him in the stomach. The boy, though very much taller than the blonde, fell to the ground. Mello straddled him, pulling his hair and choking him._

"_You're an asshole!" the shorter one screamed._

"_M-Mello! Please stop it!" Matt shouted, trying to pull Mello away, while Ross lay there screaming._

"_Never! Matt, go away!" Mello hissed, scratching at Ross' face, smiling wickedly._

"_Mello! Please! Come on!" Matt said, tightening his grip on the boy's arm._

"_What is going on??" Roger shouted, walking over to the huge crowd of people standing around the fight. Immediately, people fell silent and ran away, leaving Mello attacking Ross, and Matt pulling at Mello's arm._

"_Mello! Matt! Detention!" Roger shouted, lifting the blonde off Ross and grabbing Matt's arm, leading them away to his office._

"_Mello, you've got to stop attacking everyone. It's horrible. You slipped out of your last detention, but this time your having a long one." Roger said, sitting the two boys down. "And Matt, your new…how could you?"_

"_Sir, I was trying to pu--owww." Matt muttered, before Mello kicked him hard in the leg._

"_So. You two will sit here until I come get you. Don't be surprised if you have to sleep in here." Roger mumbled, walking out and closing the door._

"_I'm sorry I got you into this, Matt." Mello sighed, walking over to the back of the huge cupboard and pulling out a bar of chocolate._

"_S'okay." Matt muttered, "Mello?"_

_Mello grunted._

"_Um…where do you come from?" the boy asked._

"_Why do you want to know?" Mello asked._

"_I was…just wondering…"_

_The blonde sighed and turned around, so that the two boys faces were very close._

"_You know…" Mello began, "I actually don't know. I've never known. All I know is that I don't come from England. I've always believe I came from Germany, but…my parents died when I was young, so I don't remember much…"_

_The boy sighed, blinking hard, trying to cry._

"_I'm sorry.." Matt whispered, staring into Mello's blue eyes, "Are you okay?"_

"_I'm fine." Mello breathed, looking back at the red head._

_Matt tilted his head, slowly closing his eyes, and moved his lips closer to Mello's. The blonde sat there, wide eyed, realizing what the boy was trying to do._

"_Hold up!" Mello shouted, shoving his hand in Matt's face, scaring him._

"_What are you doing??" Mello asked, standing up._

"_I-I'm sorry…" Matt whispered, biting his lip._

"_Are you gay?" the blonde hissed. Matt dropped his head and didn't reply._

"_Answer me! Are you gay, Matt?" Mello growled, grabbing the younger boy's face and staring into his eyes, noticing the trail of tears running down his cheeks, "Answer me, Matt…" Mello said sternly, but still felt slightly sorry for the kid. _


End file.
